The Letter
by littledd
Summary: What if Caleb had made a different choice in the Barn? What if Chase had honored it? What if Caleb had written a last letter to Sarah?  What if...? Warnings: Multiple character deathAU Pairings: CalebSarah ......Please review!
1. The Decision

**What if Caleb had made a different choice in the Barn? What if Chase had honored it? What if Caleb had written a last letter to Sarah? What if...?**

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**The Letter**

The rotting wooden beams of Putnam Barn creaked and groaned as yet another wave of energy collided with the shuddering support beam. Above it, jagged bolts of lightning tore uneven holes in the night sky, whitewashing it. Booming thunder shook the earth and angry storm clouds boiled above. Tendrils of fire licked greedily at the walls and gave off an orange glow in all the darkness, and still the rain battered the already leaking roof. Beneath it, two warlocks battled for dominance.

Chase Collins' obsidian eyes glinted with a mad satisfaction as he sent his opponent flying across the barn and crashing into the opposite wall with a sickening crunch. Caleb Danvers slid to the ground, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Chase smirked and sauntered over to his crumpled form on the ground, trembling with effort to stand.

"What's the matter, tough guy?" crooned Chase as he stood over him. Growling, his hand shot out and grabbed Caleb's throat. "Cat got your tongue?" Grinning with sick pleasure, Chase tightened his grip and hauled Caleb to his feet, relishing the gasping breaths that shook his battered frame and the desperate hands that clawed at his own. A golden glint flashed across Chase's eyes and menacingly, his grip tightened even more. "What was that, Caleb? Can't seem to understand you," he mocked, turning one ear as if to hear better. "You gotta speak up a little." Laughing, Chase threw the weakened form to the ground and kicked him once in the stomach. Caleb bit down hard on his own wrist, trying to muffle the strangled cry. Chase didn't deserve the satisfaction.

"Pitiful," he sneered, "And this is what the legendary Covenant's leader is reduced to? You disgust me." Throwing one last dirty glance at Caleb's direction, Chase picked his way through the rubble to the other end of the barn where a ghostly pale girl floated in midair, surrounded by the growing flames. Chase smirked and brushed Sarah's lower lip with his fingertips, making sure Caleb could see everything.

"Don't touch her," came the choked threat as Caleb struggled once more to stand.

"Oh yes? And if I do? What is big, bad Caleb going to do to me, huh?" Chase's hand traveled swiftly to caress Sarah's throat and softly grazing her collarbone, then deliberately trailing his fingertips down the length of her torso. A feral growl escaped Caleb's lips and staggering, he stood, eyes turning a dangerous shade of black.

"Do not. Touch. Sarah." Caleb ground out as he started to walk towards them.

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast, buddy. We've got some problems to straighten out."

"Problems my ass," growled Caleb as his pace quickened.

"If you want to watch her die, then by all means, keep walking." Caleb froze, and Chase grinned.

"Good by. Now hear me out." Chase walked to Sarah's other side, brushing her cheek as he went, smirking as he saw Caleb tremble with a barely contained anger.

"I have a business proposition for you, Mr. Danvers. Are you willing to hear it?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Good point." Chase turned and Caleb noted with worry that his features were contorted into a mask of twisted satisfaction, laced with odium. "You have a choice, Caleb. Either you kill Sarah and allow me to do as I will with your friends and family, or you can will me your powers, in which case I'll leave your life alone and never come back again. The decision's yours."

Caleb blanched. His mind seemed to have shut down; he felt nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing. Chase's ultimatum echoed inside his head, mocking, ripping and tearing. Caleb felt as if someone was suffocating him, cold, clammy fingers squeezing an probing his insides. His mind was screaming, and his entire body shook. What kind of impossible choice was this?

_My choice,_ thought Caleb silently. And then he knew.

His decision had been made.

He felt his senses slowly return to normal, with only an overwhelming tide of grief that washed over everything. The wave overflowed and formed two silent rivulets that meandered down his cheeks, dotting the ground below. Caleb's eyes finally lost their infinite blackness and the pair of piercing gray irises gazed upon the scene before him.

Realizing.

Understanding.

Accepting.

"Do you promise not to hurt her?" demanded Caleb quietly, meeting the other's eyes in an undeviating gaze. Chase's features from impatient frustration to a maniacal glee.

"Oh ho ho, what is this? Have we decided? Is Caleb finally going to will me his powers?"

"Do you. Promise. Not. To. Hurt. Her." repeated Caleb, his gray depths shining with the force of his decision.

"Of course. A promise is a promise. As long as you will me your powers, Sarah, the Covenant, and your family stay safe and sound."

Caleb's smile at that moment made even Chase give the smallest involuntary shudder. It was so, so….so broken. There was no more fight left in those eyes anymore. Never again would they turn into coal, never again would they blaze with a golden flame. No, those twin storms of dusky gray contained another emotion that overrode all others as he gazed upon her, making his way slowly to her side.

Longing.

A desperate, pained, all-consuming longing. For a last glimpse, for a waning hope, for a future that had been shattered into a million shards of tainted glass.

She was so beautiful. Her crown of golden locks shimmered and shone in the light of the fire, framing her visage in an ethereal halo. Her pale flawless skin gave off a soft glow that blended in with her evening gown. Tonight, she was his goddess, his vision, his Sarah.

If only for a little while.

"Caleb, man, you wanna speed up the whole emo bit here? I don't want to be rude, but," Chase smirked, "I don't got all day. If we're really going to do this, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" When Caleb looked back, Chase quickly averted his gaze, swallowing his uneasiness. _How creepy,_ he thought.

"Just let me do one more thing," Caleb said quietly, still not tearing his gaze away from Sarah. "Just one more thing." A pencil and a piece of parchment appeared in Caleb's hands. With an unexpected steadiness, he began to write.

"My dearest Sarah…"

His pen halted to a stop, and a wave of hesitation swept over him. What could he write? How could words possibly manage to convey all that he wanted to apologize for, to tell her, to explain to her? But as the next words fell from the pen, he knew.

Caleb felt the sharp point of the pen on the paper as if it were his own skin. Every drop of ink that stained the paper was drawn from somewhere so deep it hurt. Caleb's vision blurred behind the veil of hot tears and individual crystalline drops slowly rolled down his cheeks. They dotted the paper below, blending with the ink, and tendrils of black spread cautiously as more hot tears fell. The pen tip was relentless as it dug hard and harder, drawing the blood necessary for each letter. He could feel his soul seeping out through the ink, forming words that only conveyed a fraction of the hurt that he felt inside. With every stroke, every sentence, he was breaking.

Slowly but surely, he was breaking.

Caleb gently put the pen down and folded the piece of paper with a knowing calm, then pressed his lips to it with a feeling so tender it hurt to watch. He turned to Chase.

"I'm ready."

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PLEASE REVIEW! im such a review junkie...the more there are, the faster i'll load the next chappie :) thanks!

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	2. The Retaliation

**Hey guys, sorry for the long break. It's just that junior year has been getting on my nerves right now, and I have just discovered a newfound, burning, intense hatred for chemistry. But that's beside the point. Anyway, sorry for a short chapter, I just really need soem reviews to keep my inspiration/motivation up. So please please please review!!! And thank you to those who have put this story on their Fave/Alert lists!!! Mwah!**

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Chase had watched it all with a smug satisfaction, feeling a sense of power that had nothing to do with magic that coursed through his veins. At Caleb's words, his grin only grew wider. What Caleb crazy for thinking he could stop him? Who was he kidding? No one could stop him. He was Chase Collins; whatever he wanted, he got.

Caleb knelt on the ground silently in front of Sarah's floating form, taking her in. His eyes traced the soft curves of her lips and followed the gracefully cut form of her neck. His fingers itched to feel that soft skin under his one more time, but it would only hurt so much more if he had to let go again. So he just knelt there. Loving. Longing. Losing.

He didn't even see it. He only felt the crippling, shuddering blow that reverberated throughout his body and he fell to the side, releasing a chocked cough. Caleb's arms wrapped around his bruised torso so tightly his knuckles turned white from the effort and he bit down on his lip to silence the cry of pain that rose in his throat, feeling the coppery rush of blood in his mouth. Then slowly, he stumbled upright again.

"What's the matter, didn't get enough? You want more Caleb? Wanna show Sarah what you're made of?" Chase taunted, sending another, smaller wave of energy and laughed out loud and he saw a few drops of dark red staining the straw. In one stride, he had gripped Caleb by back of his neck. "Beg me!" he growled, jabbing his knee into Caleb's back and pulling viciously at his hair. "I won't allow you end this by yourself, I won't let you say the words, unless you beg me first!" And still the gray eyes were fixed upwards, revealing nothing except that ever-present grief.

"You can torture me all you want, Chase. You can threaten me, hit me, you can even kill me. But I will not beg for mercy. I will not plead for death." Chase yelled in frustration and he threw Caleb to the floor in a rage. Then his eyes landed on Sarah again…and blazed gold.

Suddenly, a pitchfork flew off its hanger on the wall.

It cut so fast though the air that Caleb only had time for a strangled "No!" before it stopped just short of Sarah's throat, its tallest tip scraping her skin. Chase grinned as he saw Caleb's horrified expression slip into defeated realization.

"Now what do we say, golden boy?"

He never thought it would come to this. Caleb stood on shaky feet, trying to hold back a cough and the blood that followed. One arm gripping one of his broken ribs, he stumbled over to Sarah, nearly collapsing. Weakly, he tried to displace the pitchfork with one hand. The barn echoed with Chase's mocking laughter.

"Aw, c'mon Caleb, don't be so hard on yourself. Just beg a little, and I _pinky promise_ I'll say yes." Chase laughed raucously again, enjoying himself immensely.

"Please," came the whisper as he gazed at Sarah with adoring eyes, so soft Caleb could barely hear it himself. Chase's grin split his face wider.

"What was that?"

"Please," came the word, this time a bit louder.

"I can't hear you, Caleb! Please _what_?"

"Please—please let me say the words…." This time, they were forced and trembled with the effort to control himself. And still Chase pushed.

"Louder!"

Caleb finally exploded.

"FUCK IT Chase! _Just let me say the goddamn words!!_"

The barn was silent except for the crackling of fire and the rain that pelted the roof.

"What did you say to me?" came Chase's low voice, breaking the silence with a menacing undertone.

"You heard me," growled Caleb in return, his stance growing strong. "What else do you want? You've hurt me, tortured me, threatened me; you've torn me apart!! What else could you _possibly_—"

"I knew you would never understand, Caleb. You and your little over-privileged _covenant_," sneered Chase. "You would never be able to understand the confusion, the panic, the _pain_ I felt during all those years. So many people calling me "freak" it became the only name I responded to. No one understood me…hell, I didn't even understand myself." He chuckled before his expression turned dark. "You couldn't possibly comprehend the amount of endurance it took to get through those years. Couldn't imagine how many times I tried to end it all myself but always woke up the next morning. Must've been nice, huh? Growing up together, all safe and sound, sheltered from the outside world. You had someone to talk to, someone to at least tell you what the hell was going on! Not everyone had that luxury, Caleb. And I'm upset." His eyes flashed. "Upset at the, inequality, of it all. So guess what, Caleb?" He walked closer still, until the two boys were nose to nose. "Party's over. It's payback time, and I must say…" Chase drove a fist into Caleb's bruised stomach, sending him to the ground. "…Revenge has never been sweeter."

Caleb wheezed on the floor, spitting out the coppery blood in his mouth. He looked up at Chase through eyes glazed over with raging hate.

"You have to be the single most self-absorbed, deranged and absolutely_disgusting_ excuse for a person I have ever laid eyes on." Caleb's crimson-stained lips curved upwards in a defiant grin. "Congratulations." The dark-haired boy staggered up again, much to Chase's surprise. "You make yourself sound like the world's most pitiable victim. 'They called me freak, I'm upset, I never had it as good.' Do the world a favor and fuck off, Collins; no one wants to listen to your bullshit. Look at you now. You've threatened my family and my friends' safety, made me beg to die, and you've kidnapped my girlfriend who currently has a fucking_pitchfork_ pointed at her throat. Who's the victim now, huh? Me or you?" Caleb let out a barking laugh, looking at the now vehement boy, quaking with anger. "Face it, Chase. It had nothing to do with your childhood, nothing to do with us, either. You're pointing fingers at all the wrong people, when the only person you have to blame is yourself. Deny it all you want, it won't make a difference. At the end of the day, you'll be all alone."

The words hit home. The sound that came out of Chase's throat was practically inhuman. Losing all control, he threw wave after wave of ferocious energy at Caleb, putting all his rage into the blows. The barn groaned anew as the balls of pure force played continuously at Chase's fingertips. By the time his anger subsided, Caleb was barely breathing.

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**Thanks for reading, and please review! I live off of them! (No pressure...) Again, reviews happier me quicker update! **


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